Cabbage

Name
Lee

What do you do? 
I’m the multi-instrumentalist in Cabbage. I play guitar and I play a bit of organ as well. I share lead vocals with Joe in the band, so when he’s singing I have to go and find something else to do.

Describe your style in three words
Depleted, ripped, smelly.

How should your music be listened to?
Live or vinyl, preferably with a pair of headphones if it’s vinyl. I always think about the image of a kid getting his first Bowie album, listening to it on vinyl, having a smoke and sinking into their bed. It’s how I’d like to think of people to listening to our music.

What do you miss about home when you’re on tour?
My girlfriend is probably the main one. And the hills. We’re from a place called Mossley. We are country boys. When you’re from Mossley you’re very driven from that area. Having hills in every direction you look is something I miss seeing.

Which British music icons inspire your sound today?
Mark E Smith has always been a big inspiration. We’ve always set out the target that we’d like to put out an album a year. The sheer force of material for The Fall is huge. A lot of people like to describe The Fall as a company with Mark E Smith as the CEO. He’s promoted his company throughout his life and no-one’s spared. To me, saying they’ve had more members than albums (and they’ve had 40-odd albums) is brilliant.

Manchester’s always been rich in poetry, and we’ve obviously got Dr John Cooper Clarke, and there’s another poet called Mike Garry. They are both big icons and inspirations of mine.

What is the first song you played on repeat?
Truthfully or..? I’d like to say it was David Bowie’s ‘Rock N Roll Suicide’ but it was probably Sum 41 ‘Motivation’.

When I was 9, Sum 41 and Blink 182 exploded, and they were the first two albums I bought. What got me into music was that American pop-punk. It made me pick up drums, if I hadn’t learnt the drums I’d have stabbed myself or something… I think they call it ADHD…

What is your favourite song to inspire change?
It’s an obvious one, but Bob Marley ‘Redemption Song’. I love the lyrics that Bob Marley wrote for that song.

“Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds…”

The lyric is just amazing, and Bob Marley is probably one of the only artists who really inspired change. I’m not even that big a fan of him.

A song from your favourite album?
That’s hard…off the top of my head, ‘Five Years’ - the first track off David Bowie’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust’ album. That’s one of my favourite albums, and my favourite track off that album.

A song you wish you’d written?
What were the band that released ‘Tainted Love’? Soft Cell? Something as timeless and integral as a piece of art as that. Or ‘The Letter’ by The Box Tops.

4 new bands you are listening to now?

The Blinders from Doncaster, Slow Knife from Manchester, Avalanche Party who are playing with us tonight and can I say my side project? The Afghan Sand Gang is what they are called.